


Turnabout Matrimonium

by thatskyquill



Category: Ready or Not (2019), 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney
Genre: Detention Center, Drabble, Gen, Lawyers, Slice of Life, Talking, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:07:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22936078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatskyquill/pseuds/thatskyquill
Summary: The recently widowed Grace Le Domas is surrounded by accusations, due to being the sole survivor from the burndown of Le Domas estate. Defense lawyer Phoenix Wright willingly takes her case under his wing, but he has to get his client to open up first.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	Turnabout Matrimonium

**Author's Note:**

> _Matrimonium_ means "marriage" in Latin.

24 hours before the catastrophe, Grace, a former foster child, married Alex Le Domas and took on the name of the wealthy, grand, and influential family whose conglomerate sprawls its network across the globe. The night after that, her husband along with his family was found dead in the fire that swallowed the entirety of their residence and charred their bodies, and she was found sitting on the front steps, consuming a cigarette, bleeding, and covered with non-fatal burns but critical injuries.

The detective on the crime scene could reach no other conclusion framing her as a non-culprit and opted to arrest her. Now here she is, a bulletproof glass away from Phoenix Wright, devoid of the injuries as described in the report. Smoke wisps out of her mouth and the cigarette in her hand, as she sits away from him, resentful and tired eyes passing a sidelong stare of distrust. She is now dressed in a formal suit, whereas the report states she was in a greatly damaged and bloodied wedding dress. _So she is absolutely unlike what she's like at the crime scene._

This is the bloodiest case he has undertaken — the most valued one too. But he does not care about wealth; he wants the truth.

"So you're the lawyer?" Grace responds after his greeting.

"Yes. I'm your defense attorney for your case."

"You will defend me and prove I'm innocent?" She continues to ask quietly and exhaustedly. Her hand on the cigarette moved to rest on the table, its tip up in the air, still bright and burning.

"I will. I believe you are innocent and that is the truth." It's always been like this. The accusers want his clients to be wronged with no matter how many lies, only to be toppled by the truth. It's always during the darkest times that justice finds him.

She throws her head back and laughs, pushing her chair backwards in the process, before looking back at him again properly with a sad smile — with a bit of insanity. "I'm innocent?! _I'm innocent?!_ Do you really believe that I have done nothing wrong?"

Wright leans closer with a heavy inhale. "Of course I do! Who would murder the entire family while coming out with life-threatening injuries themselves?! Behind every case there's a reason they happened —"

Grace slams her free hand on the desk and inches closer too, eyes wide and mouth bared. "I _killed_ my family. Alex. Daniel. Tony. Becky. And every one of their godforsaken relatives and their goddamned maids and servants. Their blood is on my hands. Their deaths are in my shadow." Her hand with the cigarette jabbed at what is behind her. "And you know just as much about what really happened as those policemen and the detective do."

Wright hesitates. She snorts and takes a drag. He sits up straighter and begins again, "You're right. The only thing I can get from this event is the reports and documents. I may have little information just like everyone else, but that's why I need your help, Grace. You can prove your innocence, that those murders are accused against you to the wrong extent, by talking about what happened. The evidence alone doesn't explain enough. What you ... experienced also matters."

Another silence takes hold, as Grace responds only by staring at him as if seizing up a prey, or passively watching a spectator sport. She finally speaks with a distant coldness, more and more bitter, "Why bother? Would you believe me if I told you my husband's family worship a literal devil? Would you believe me if I told you those sickos told me we're just playing a hide-and-seek when they actually ran a manhunt? Would you believe that those scums tried to lay me on a table to sacrifice me, and when they couldn't they exploded one by one, into this bunch of disgusting guts and muddle?"

It is silent again, except for the shuffle on Wright's side as he straightens himself and looks down to nothingness, somewhere at her chest and shoulder level. Grace snorts again and lies back, answering for herself, "You don't. So get lost."

Wright looks at her dead in the eyes even though she doesn't look back. "Well, Mrs. Le Domas, I actually DO."

"What makes you say that?" She takes another drag.

_TAKE THAT!_

A green stone in the shape of half of _yin-yang_ , no bigger than his palm, is placed on his desk with a _clack_. Grace turns her head back at him, alarmed. "Because the spirituality you described can exist."


End file.
